Page 31 of Soaring and Steadfast

The word left him unbidden, an exhale of truth.

Lila inhaled sharply.

“Incredible,” she whispered back, voice barely above a breath.

And he knew.

They weren’t talking about the baby.

The urge to close the space between them, to cradle her face in his hands, to press his forehead to hers and whisper all the things he wasn’t ready to say yet—it burned through him, insistent and fierce. He ached to tell her that she was safe with him, and she didn’t have to be afraid. That she could lean on him, just this once, just forever.

But she wasn’t ready.

So he swallowed it all, locking the words away with quiet determination. He would be patient. He would be steady. He would wait—however long it took.

His voice was soft, careful as he finally spoke. “The baby is beyond lovely.” A pause. A quiet out for her to take. “Those cheeks are incredible.”

And there it was—the flicker in her gaze, the subtle shift as she pulled back behind her walls. The moment was gone, but not lost. He had seenher, if only for a second.

Someday, it would be a minute.

Then, an hour.

Then, a lifetime.

And Louis?

He would wait for her.

Always.

CHAPTER NINE

LILA

Lila heard her phone beep nearby and immediately grabbed it off the mattress beside her out of instinct, out of habit, knowing, in the back of her mind, it was Louis – but it wasn’t a mattress.

It was the coffee table.

She was lying on the couch at Stephanie’s apartment – in Florida. She and Louis had texted like this so many times, and her breath seized inside of her as she awoke fully.

She met him.

They had been fixed up by Stephanie.

The baby!

“Oh my gosh…” she rasped, sliding her thumb across the screen to see the text message, expecting fully for him to bail on her, to think her the biggest crybaby in the world, the world’s worst friend because she’d ignored him and charged mulishly ahead to face her demons knowing it would be easier now than in front of Stephanie when she came home with the infant.

And saw she had two text messages – one from Trophy and one from Louis. She clicked on Trophy’s first and smiled tearfully. He was standing there, curling the infant up toward hisface, smiling and it said simply, ‘Meet Angel Renee Cavanaugh’. Clicking to the other text thread, she swallowed.

Good morning.

Wanna grab breakfast, kiss cheeks, change dirty diapers, and savor drool – and I’m talking about the baby, not myself. I don’t wear diapers.

Although, if you are into breakfast casserole from Cracker Barrel you might be the most perfect person in the universe.

She laughed, shaking her head.

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